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Hockey

Blackhawks live to fight Red Wings another day

Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard makes a save on Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews during Game 5 of their NHL Western Conference semifinal at the United Center in Chicago, May 25, 2013. (JOHN GRESS/Reuters)

The Chicago Blackhawks power play is vaunted once again. All it took was a pair of man-advantage goals to wake it from its slumber.

Having struggled for the majority of their NHL Western Conference semifinal against the Detroit Red Wings, the Blackhawks scored a pair of power-play goals en route to a 4-1 win in Game 5 Saturday.

Andrew Shaw and Jonathan Toews scored with the man advantage less than three minutes apart in the second period, lifting the Blackhawks to the win and sending the series back to Detroit for Game 6 Monday.

“Good things come from shooting the puck, there’s rebounds and loose pucks,” said Shaw, who scored on a tip in front. “We had all guys converging to the net and we just kept picking them up and kept hemming them in there. We were able to tire them out and we were rewarded.

“Scoring that power play goal was huge. I think we needed that and we had the momentum going into the next one and we buried that one, too.”

Shaw scored again in the third period. Bryan Bickell opened the scoring for the Blackhawks in the first.

Daniel Cleary countered for the Red Wings, who still have an opportunity to close out the series on home ice.

Heading into the contest, the Blackhawks had just one power-play goal in the first four games of the series, struggling badly with the man advantage in three consecutive losses.

“You have to commend the guys, I thought their attitude was tremendous, they could have been walking around here thinking they were in an awful spot,” said Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville. “But they had the right approach, they were very positive. We had a good day (Friday) and I thought (Saturday’s morning skate), was very business-like and going into the game the guys played the way their approach was today.”

Shaw’s power play marker gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead. They extended it on their next man advantage as Toews took a pass from Marian Hossa at the side of the net and fired a shot off Howard’s mask and in.

The goal was Toews’ first of the post-season, lifting some of the pressure off of the Blackhawks captain.

“I think that’s a big relief off his shoulders,” said Bickell. “It’s also nice to get the power play going, but I think the most important thing is that we got the win. It should be an exciting Game 6 back in their building on Monday.”

Prior to the two power-play goals, things were pretty tense at the United Center as Cleary had tied the game midway through the second period, getting to the end of a sharp-angle rebound and lifting it over Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford.

The goal was Cleary’s fourth of the post-season, putting him in a tie for the team lead with Damien Brunner and Johan Franzen.

Knowing the Blackhawks would be desperate coming out of the gate, the Red Wings were in survival mode for the majority of the opening period.

In the second, two consecutive trips to the penalty box, however, proved to be their downfall.

“They were better than us tonight,” said Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard. “We knew we were going to have to weather the storm. I thought we did that, we got going, but they just kept coming and coming. We took couple of bad penalties and they were able to capitalize on it.”

In the third, Shaw collected his second goal by taking a rebound off the boards behind the net and beating Howard on a wrap-around. The Blackhawks kept up the pressure, out-shooting the Red Wings 45-26 in the contest.

“We felt like we had control of the game most of the game,” said Bickell. “The plays that we drew on the board were working and to get a couple of power play goals was the spark that we needed. It feels good, now we need to move on to the next game.”